Astronomers’ telescope to search for origins of universe

ASTRONOMERS are launching a telescope today to search for the origins of the universe and even to find intelligent alien lifeforms – all by listening to the skies using a massive FM radio receiver.

The universities of Portsmouth, Oxford and Southampton are joining forces with experts from around the country to construct the first major radio telescope to be built in Britain for decades.

The first stage of the European Low Frequency Array (Lofar) telescope involves 96 radio antennae being erected this week in a field at the Chilbolton Observatory near Andover, Hampshire.